Syria severs links with United States

WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI) -- Syria's ambassador to the United States says his country has severed intelligence links with the United States in a spat over policy in Iraq.

Imad Moustapha told the New York Times Syria is fed up with U.S. allegations it is not doing enough in the fight the insurgency in neighboring Iraq. He also questioned the timing of an escalation of criticism since February when a half-brother of Saddam Hussein was handed over to Iraqi authorities after being captured in Syria.

"We thought, why should we continue to cooperate?" he said.

The newspaper said relations between Syria and the United States have been souring for months, and some Bush administration officials said Syria's level of cooperation had been dwindling even before the latest move.

However, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the Defense Department had received no official notification of a change in that status, nor that the status of U.S. military attachés in Damascus had been altered.